{Embrace} and {Small Style :: Birthday Girl!}

Good morning!

I am so so excited about today's post!  This has been a big work in progress for me and I am thrilled with how it turned out.  More importantly, Emilia loved it!

We celebrated Emilia's THIRD birthday this past weekend with a "Tinkerbell Party", at E's request.  The only catch was that she wanted to be Rosetta, Tinkerbell's fairy friend, because she wears pink.  My MIL found an awesome deal on a peachy colored fabric which matched our Rosetta doll's outfit perfectly, so I set out to create something fantastic. 

Emilia loves tutus and all things twirly, so I really felt the stress of perfection...haha.  Honestly, I just kind of made up the skirt as I went along...I looked at a couple tutorials for petal skirts and tutus, but ultimately, just kept playing with it until I liked it.  It didn't pass the "Twirl Test", but E still loved it!

I also took a plain white tank and added a small fabric rosette embellishment.  I didn't want anything too over-the-top and I think it turned out great!



She was also very particular about which character each family member was to dress up as...and here is our little family!  I was Tinkerbell and Jason was Terrence- Tink's boy fairy friend.  Such a good dad to get in on the fairy fun! (O:


I am excited to post all about her party details soon.  Please stop back by! (O:

As seen on Emilia:
Rosetta Skirt - Handmade by me
Rosetta Tank - Target's Circo brand plain tank, I added the embellishment
Leggings - Walmart
Wings - Amazon.com

I am linking up with two wonderfully awesome blogs today; please go check them out!:

A Birthday Balloon Surprise

My daughter, Emilia turned 3 this past Saturday.  I still cannot believe she's 3 already- time is definitely flying!  When I started formulating birthday and party ideas, I came across a really fun surprise idea on Pinterest.  E is definitely a little balloon lover, so I knew she would love this surprise!

I stayed up late Friday night blowing up balloons and filled 3 trash bags.  I set my alarm to wake up at 6:30 to make sure I got them in her room before she woke up.  If you're my friend on facebook, you probably saw my post saying "One of the few acceptable reasons to set an alarm clock for Saturday morning :: covering the birthday girl's bedroom floor with balloons as a surprise for when she wakes up!"  And it was totally worth it!  When she first woke up, she just laid in bed calling for me...I could tell she hadn't realized the balloons yet, so I grabbed our camera and went in her room like nothing was different.  I closed the door behind me so the balloons couldn't escape and just started asking her how she slept, etc.  It took her a couple minutes, but when she finally looked down, she was SO excited!

She ran into the hallway to tell Daddy, Grammy and Grampy about the balloons!  We pushed all the balloons into the hallway and let the fun continue.

 

It was the perfect way to start this great day! 

Another post to come soon about all her party festivities...there will be pirates, fairies, friends and fun!  Plus I will finally be able to show off the Rosetta tutu skirt and coordinating tank I made for my little birthday girl.  (O:

The Un-Planned Events

Sorry I have been MIA for a while on here...things are picking up with traveling to churches to raise support for our mission on Saipan and usually my brain is too fried to do anything else productive.  I hope to gather my thoughts into a somewhat coherent manner very soon to catch you up on the highs (and lows) of the past few weeks.  But for today, I'm keeping it light.  So I cannot mess it up too badly.

Emilia's birthday party is only two short weeks away- what??!  How can my little girl already be 3?  It just does not seem possible.  This itsy bitsy baby is no more.

She is growing up so fast and I have new things I love about her every day.  She is smart, funny, loving and kind.  She is always up for a good time and loves making new friends.

 

We have not done a large birthday party ever year, and did not intend to do so.  But, with our move coming up in July, we thought a party would be a great way to get all our friends and family together.  We are going to *try* and keep it simple, but that goes directly against everything I believe about parties and planning (haha).  Emilia has requested a Tinkerbell party, but wants to dress as Tink's friend Rosetta so she can wear pink- as is true "Emilia Fashion", if it's not pink, it doesn't exsist.  It wasn't until last week that I realized I am WAaay behind on planning and prep for this party...I am so ashamed!  Usually by this point I would have everything purchased, organized and ready (except for the fresh produce, etc.).  I started to beat myself up about it, but then had to remind myself that we have a LOT going on right now.  I still have time, I just need to get moving!  I hope to do a party post after the event, with the highlights, my favorite *Pinned ideas, and all our fabulous party-going friends and family.  (O:

Next, for the rant portion of this post...haha.  As the title of this post states, this is about The Un-Planned EventS, plural.  So I couldn't just stop with one.  This is going to be a completely random and unnecessary rant about a gathering we are attending tonight.  It serves no purpose other than allowing me to get it off my chest.  And while I may seem sincerely upset about it (which I AM!), I am also mostly talking in jest. 

So, we are currently part of a small group Bible Study at our church and it meets on Tuesday nights.  Last Tuesday we missed because I was sick, so we didn't find out until the prayer list was emailed out that this week's meeting was going to skip the lesson and have a Bonfire/Potluck party.  Sounds fun, right?  Yes, it will be.  That's not the part I'm twitching over.  The email went on to explain that each couple/family was to bring either a main dish, side dish or dessert.  BUT, it said we aren't going to "sign up" or communicate who is brining what...so "if everyone brings corn, we will eat a lot of corn", to quote the email...ahhh!!  What??  No list or even a heads up about what we think we might bring?? 

I have been in a state of panic and probably have an ulcer now because of the stress.  If you know me in real life, you are probably laughing hysterically at my perdicament (as is my husband, every time I try to talk about it..)  I like order, I like lists and I like plans.  I like to have a good time, and I promise I am not a stick in the mud.  But the secretary in me is screaming!  I have litereally gone through a dozen different ideas of what to bring- trying to find the perfect way to optimize a snack with some nutritional value that will also keep hunger at bay...does such a snack exist?

I forgot to stop at the store last night after Zumba.  So I am now forced to scramble on my luch hour to the grocery store in hopes of finding the perfect dish to bring.  I may end up forgoing nutritional value and sustainability and go with Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip or a premade/precut cheesecake.  This is what happens when a male plans the party- I lose my mind and give up.  He brought this upon himself and will now suffer my wrath this evening over such poor planning!  (Not a *real* wrath, I do love this guy and his family.  But I intend to tell him about the ulcer, for sure.)

So, now that you have an extra little glimpse into my crazy ways...I hope you have a splendid day!  (But, really!  Am I the only one who would be so bothered by this??  There must be someone else out there twitching with me...???)  ;-)